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Zelaya's plane turned away in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 5 (UPI) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's plane circled the airport in Tegucigalpa Sunday, but could not land as soldiers and riot police blocked the runway.

"The runway is blocked," Zelaya said in an interview from his plane that was broadcast over loudspeakers to his supporters on the ground, The New York Times reported Sunday. "There is no way I can land."

As the plane passed over the airport twice, throngs who had awaited Zelaya's return cheered while soldiers and riot police used tear gas and bullets to disperse his supporters, the Time said.

The plane, which Zelaya had boarded in Washington, then headed to Nicaragua but Zelaya said he would attempt another landing soon. Zelaya had said Saturday he would return to Honduras Sunday, even as the man who replaced him after the coup threatened to arrest him.

Zelaya's post-coup successor, Roberto Micheletti, said he would have Zelaya arrested if he arrives in the country. If he goes ahead with his pledge to return, Zelaya would be ignoring a warning from one of Honduras' most prominent religious leaders, who urged him to stay out of the country and accept his ouster.

Oscar Andres Rodriguez, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Tegucigalpa, made a statement on local television, addressing viewers in front of a Honduran flag and a painting of Jesus Christ, The Miami Herald reported.

"On the day of your inauguration, you cited three commandments of the rules of God -- not to lie, not to steal, not to kill," Rodriguez said. "If you respect life, if you love life ... please meditate because if not, it could be too late."

Zelaya was awakened from sleep last weekend and forced to leave the country in his pajamas. Leaders of the military coup and their supporters say he was conspiring to change the constitution to allow him to remain as president indefinitely.

Iraqi officials: Most protesters released

TEHRAN, July 5 (UPI) -- Most of those arrested in Iran's post-election violence were free by Sunday, police said.

PressTV also reported Sunday Britain said Iran is to release one of the two remaining British Embassy employees detained in the post-election unrest.

The country's police chief, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, told the state-supported PressTV two-thirds of those arrested were freed with or without bail.

He said only those with a complaint against them and those who caused damage to public property were still detained. The judiciary is investigating all those cases, he said.

Hundreds who protested the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were arrested during days of unrest in Tehran that left at least 20 dead and hundreds injured. The protesters called for the annulment of the election and claim the official results are fraudulent.

A powerful group of clerics is publicly supporting Iranians who believe their nation's presidential election was rigged. In a posting on its Web site, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum Saturday called the election illegitimate and chastised government leaders for the use of force in crushing public protests across Iran last month, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Center-right claims victory in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 5 (UPI) -- The center-right opposition party led by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov has claimed victory over the ruling Socialists in Bulgaria's parliamentary election Sunday.

The Times Online reported Borisov's coalition was poised to take 117 seats in the 240-member Bulgarian parliament. The Socialists were expected to retain only 39 seats, continuing the trend started in 1990, in which Bulgarians have ousted the incumbent governing coalition at each election, the British news Web site said.

Official results of Sunday's general election were expected some time Monday.

Borisov, 50, told local television channel bTV his Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, commonly referred to as GERB from the party's Bulgarian name, had dealt a "smashing, annihilating" defeat to the Socialists.

The Sofia Echo reported Borisov struck a conciliatory tone toward Muslims during a news conference but warned those involved in corruption or other government abuses.

"For us, ethnicity does not play a role," Borisov said, adding Bulgarian Muslims have a role to play in the government of the country.

He said the new government would prosecute any corruption cases that took place under the previous government.

Nearly 7 million people were eligible to vote, the BBC reported.

Bulgaria last year lost access to some of its European Union funds for failing to deal with government corruption and organized crime. Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, with EU officials warning the nation's leaders to clean up the government.

Medvedev 'optimistic' on Obama Moscow trip

MOSCOW, July 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow could set the tone for improved bilateral relations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says.

Obama is to arrive in Moscow Monday for talks on strategic arms reduction, a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, the global economic crisis and the upcoming G8 summit.

Medvedev said he is "cautiously optimistic" the Moscow meeting could set the stage for a better relationship between Russia and Washington, RIA Novosti reported.

"At the moment, I think that we are all feeling cautiously optimistic -- both the Russian side and the American side," Medvedev said in an interview with Raitalia TV channel and the Corriere della Sera newspaper. "I hear what my colleague, President Obama, says. So we are eagerly awaiting the U.S. president's visit to our country.

"I spoke to him a few days ago on the phone, and we discussed the agenda and the process of drawing up a new treaty on strategic arms issues. This is the most important item on the agenda."